A semi-irregular blog of news, opinions, and random ideas about MTV's Daria and its fandom, plus anything else even vaguely Daria related

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Sssssmokin'!

The tiny picture at left balloons up wonderfully when you click on it. This is how Quinn's class viewed having Daria as their teacher in "Lucky Strike," which premiered eight years ago today. This is the episode most famous for Daria's fur bikini. Or lack thereof.

Were you aware that the name of this episode came from a brand of cigarettes? Even cartoon characters smoke Lucky Strikes. They're less likely to get cancer than we are. Maybe.

I had an idea once about Jane drawing a comic strip for the school paper featuring a puffin (kind of like a penguin, only less erotic) named Puffy, who smokes cigarettes and does television ads promoting a given cigarette brand.... until he discovers he has cancer, which the cigarette company had assured him he would not get. The comic goes into angst overdrive, with Puffy coughing up blackened parts of his lungs & cursing his fate, yet completely unable to stop smoking, until the students who smoke get riled up and begin protesting. (Burnout Girl, by the way, is a smoker. See picture #13 at that link. Mr. DeMartino smokes too, per "The Big House.")

Looking for a good debate? Try Deconstructing Mack, a critical discussion of "Saint Mack" Mackenzie and how the show depicted him.

UPDATED FANFICTION LIST

FF.net

A Tale of Two Bungholes, by Evanilla (Part 1): Here is a very special shipper about two young boys and the girl who moved away... and then moved back. ("If only Mom knew I was spending the night at the house of the two horniest guys in Highland!”) I promise that this story will not cause permanent brain damage. I swear to God it won't. (Boinnnnng!)

Unnamed Crossover Fanfic, by Pinkminx (Part 2): "Look, I'm gunna drop the act. Lawndale High is a cookie-cutter replica of every other school in America, complete with your various stereotypes. No one cares about anything, the teachers are oblivious, and the principal's sole interest is to protect the *valued* name of the school. Just don't do anything to compromise the school's reputation and you'll coast through the next few years."

Film Critic Mass, by Patrick Moore, a.k.a. Peapotmaster (Part 1): "Welcome to a special edition of Coming Attractions. Tonight, my special guest is former MTV star, Daria Morgendorffer, to co-host the show with me. Hello, Daria."

Lambda, by SigDiff (Part 1, restarted by popular demand!): Daria Morgendorffer didn't particularly believe in the story of Gordon Freeman. She viewed him much in the same way she viewed Santa Claus. A man fitting his general description did exist at some point, and probably did some things that were seen as amazing, but he wasn't going to be the savior of humanity. Just like how Santa Claus never brought her that damned replica human skull. [A Daria/Half-Life 2 crossover. HE'S GONNA DO IT! YESSS!]

Once Upon a Time in Lawndale, by Disco316 (Parts 6 and 7): “Didn't sleep a wink last night. A group of the most unfashionable losers in black rode herd on me all night. I didn’t think you could make black look ugly until I saw them. Well, maybe leaving them out in the desert will improve their common sense as well as their fashion sense." ALSO: "Once you've killed four, it's easy to make it five."

Rings and Things That Cannot Go Together, by Ranger Thorne (continued): “I am the Green Lantern of this sector of space,” Daria told him, trying to sound official. “You have been found worthy by my ring to become one of us.”

Stacy Rowe, Seeker (Part II), by jtranser (continued): "I've gone from attending Lawndale High to being a reporter for one of the lesser New York City newspapers and winding up as Imperial Grand Duchess of the Russian Empire. And I still find myself dealing with idiots, scoundrels, and assorted hostile maladjusted types."

Straight, Not Narrow, by Angelboy et al. (continued): "Seems like such a waste," said Daria. "The royal men are all quite handsome men." ["The Invitation" is next!]

Things Fall Apart, by Doggieboy (Parts 1 and 2): Bradley Buzzcut looked over the gymnasium of Highland High as the refugees settled into family groups. Blankets and sleeping bags were arranged, while the custodians pushed back the bleachers to make more floor space. He took mental stock as he looked around, but there was so many people it was hard to be sure that everyone was there. [Part 2 takes place in Ohio. Guess which city.]

Turnabout Confusion Part II: All The King's Horses, by Dennis (continued): "Dad said you wanted to talk to me, Mack. What about?" Now that it was upon him, he couldn't summon the anger he'd felt earlier in the day. Only sadness. "You know what about."

A Twisted Little Corkscrew, by Dennis (COMPLETE!): Thugs, liars, and bootlickers, she thought as she tossed the wine back. Should've brought my flask.

Unnamed story, by Scissors MacGillicutty (COMPLETE!): "Those who are one thirty-second awake are expecting me to announce that my old show will soon be available, and those one sixteenth awake are salivating at the prospect of me declaring I'm an alien and then ripping off these clothes to show a...oh, I don't know, a much more revealing outfit and nipples on my elbows."

Unnamed story, by SigDiff (Part 1): See if you can guess the crossover. The towel is a clue.

SFMB

Once Bitten, Twice Shy, by Bliss Ticks: The (in)complete story, so far: "I see the snow bunnies have taken possession of your faculties again." *

Fandom supersites

Daria supersites are comprehensive, content-rich websites designed by and for fans of the series. By definition, supersites offer a variety of links to other Daria fansites, but a true supersite offers much more—character descriptions, fanfiction archives, fan art galleries, essays and fan commentaries, message boards, screen-capture galleries, episode transcripts, downloadables, contests and quizzes, Dariacon information, etc. The designation of a fan site as a supersite is a matter of opinion, but the following sites (most of which are no longer updated) have made a serious effort to be comprehensive and offer a variety of material.

Series summaries

Daria summaries are webpages offering overviews of the TV series (1997-2002). Character images, episode synopses, and voice-actor lists are usually presented; some include links to other Daria sites. In most, little or no fan content appears, but some sites allow for fan reviews and commentary. Summary pages are often unoriginal copies of pages from Wikipedia or other sources about the show.

Latest fanworks

Many thanks to The Angst Guy for compiling the 2007-2010 fanfiction contributions, TheExcellentS for compiling the 2011 and 2012 fanfiction contributions, and Richard Lobinske for compiling the 2007-2011 fan art contributions.

Daria-on-DVD activism

Internet stores and product reviews are mixed together below, as one often includes the other. Note the special section with reviews and advice on the Daria's Inferno computer game. See also the important information at the end of this list.

Daria items licensed by MTV are no longer available from Hot Topic, but these might be found on resale sites.

WARNING!Not all items that appear under search queries for "Daria" are officially licensed from MTV. No guarantees are made by this website for quality, relevance, or anything else. This list is only for your personal interest and amusement. Caveat emptor!

Blasts from the past

Thanks to theWayBack Machine at Archive.org, many of the Daria websites of yesteryear that were taken down can be recovered, in whole or in part, for our interest today. Earlier versions of current websites are also intriguing; many fanfics that were deleted by request of their authors turn out to still be available through the WayBack Machine. Suggestions for additions to this listing are welcome.

However, the WayBack Machine is not guaranteed to recover all or even most of a website. In some cases, just the skeleton of the site is left, without images or downloads. Some webpages are glitch-filled and need to be fixed by the Archive staff before viewing. (Write to the staff to describe problems in recovering old sites, if the issues seem fixable.) Enjoy surfing down memory lane.

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Tiny legal print

"Daria" and all related proper names and images are trademarks or copyrighted material of MTV Networks, and are used herein without its permission. This site is intended solely to celebrate and publicize these characters and their creators. No commercial benefit, nor any use beyond the "fair use" review and commentary provisions of United States copyright law and related case law, is either intended or implied. I'm not making any money off this, believe me, but I am having fun!